Page:The grandmother; a story of country life in Bohemia.pdf/244

238 the cover with his fingers. "Do you know what's the news, my friends?" he said as he entered the room.

"What has happened?" asked Mrs. Proshek and Grandmother at the same time, seeing that the miller was not in his usual mood.

"The mountain water is coming."

"God grant that it be neither sudden nor heavy!" said Grandmother, much frightened.

"I am not a little alarmed," said the miller. "For several days we have had south winds; then there have been heavy rains in the hilly regions, and the farmers tell me that the streams are flooded and the snow is rapidly thawing. The outlook is not inviting. I shall hurry home now and put everything out of the way of the evil visitor. I should advise you to do the same; we cannot be too careful. In the afternoon I will come to see how things appear. Watch how the water rises,—and you, little linnet, don't you go near the water!" he added, pinching Adelka on the cheek; then he left the house.

Grandmother went to look at the dam. On each side the banks were protected by oak piles, among which brakes had grown. She saw that some of the lower brakes were already beneath the water. Pieces of wood, sod, and branches of trees were carried away across the dam by the muddy current. She returned to the house with an anxious face. When the ice broke, it sometimes stopped at the dam, and the current rushed into the sluice and flooded the house. This was always a time of anxiety to the miller, and his men were constantly on the watch to arrest every threatening danger, by